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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
reflective
medium-paced
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
George Saunders the genius you are 🫶
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Elliot Spencer, Love Letter, and Sparrow were my favorite stories from this collection
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Here is another excellent collection of stories from the great George Saunders. The titular short story is exemplary - an original and action packed work about people who are essentially imprisoned and forced to tell stories for the elite. Despite its brevity, it's extremely dense and layered with themes, hidden meaning, and much hilarity. It's definitely the highlight of the collection.
The subsequent offerings were hit and miss. Often in Saunders it takes about halfway through the story to know precisely what's happening and it's a reward to revisit from the start once the idea is clear. Such is the case for "Elliott Spencer," a story about an old man being brainwashed by a government agency to counteract protests. Stories like "Ghoul" and "Love Letter" didn't quite land for me - rich with ideas, but put into stories or prose that felt a bit undercooked compared to the others I mentioned. The ending story "My House" is just short, beautiful writing and a great meditation on the pain of letting go and the difficulties of taking oneself out of their story.
It's hard to give a collection of short stories a star rating, since various pieces range from a perfect 5 stars to an average 3. I'm splitting the difference and giving 4, but still highly recommending people pick this one up especially if you're a fan of Saunders at all.
The subsequent offerings were hit and miss. Often in Saunders it takes about halfway through the story to know precisely what's happening and it's a reward to revisit from the start once the idea is clear. Such is the case for "Elliott Spencer," a story about an old man being brainwashed by a government agency to counteract protests. Stories like "Ghoul" and "Love Letter" didn't quite land for me - rich with ideas, but put into stories or prose that felt a bit undercooked compared to the others I mentioned. The ending story "My House" is just short, beautiful writing and a great meditation on the pain of letting go and the difficulties of taking oneself out of their story.
It's hard to give a collection of short stories a star rating, since various pieces range from a perfect 5 stars to an average 3. I'm splitting the difference and giving 4, but still highly recommending people pick this one up especially if you're a fan of Saunders at all.
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix